Pro’s from the Palace (#308)

First of all, I would like to take the time to apologize to my readers. I have not been around much lately in written form, and that’s because there’s been a lot going on outside of the world of pro wrestling, and the Palace dweller has been pretty damn busy. All I can say is, get me a referee shirt, and a whistle.

Anyways, I got some stuff to say, and I need to say it now. So here we go.

First, I need to talk briefly about Larry Sweeney, Bryan Danielson, and Ring of Honor.

From the beginning, when I began following this business, I have had ultimate respect for the men and women who step between the ropes and try and entertain the masses. Why? Simple. Because I cannot even dream to do what these individuals can.

Now, I also know from the tips of my fingers to the toes of my shoes that BUSINESS IS BUSINESS, and sometimes decisions will be made that are unpopular, and at times, difficult, if not impossible, for the masses to comprehend.

The situation involving ROH and Larry Sweeney is well past the boundaries of any known amount of idiocy I can think of, and my personal blame falls on the company.

Without going in to a ten page long diatribe, I have to believe that anyone who is willing to admit to the masses via myspace of a serious, significantly severe mental condition such as Sweeney did, ROH should have taken him at his word.

I don’t think that anyone in this business can be as sinister and manipulating to plan such a plot in an attempt to put one over on management.

Maybe I’m wrong, I’ll never know. But, from the outside looking in, I am mad at ROH for this situation, and here’s why.

I have a personal connection to any and all individuals who are dealing with a mental condition.

I know people are going to say this and that and the other thing about my response, and frankly, I could care less, the bottom line here is simple. Larry Sweeney has been putting asses in the seats for ROH for some time now, and I would believe, I would have to believe, the way this company is growing by leaps and bounds over the past few months, I would have to believe that the administration of ROH would have some loyalty to its talents, and accept what their reasons are for whatever trials and tribulations may pass through the wave that is Ring of Honor.

But, then again, this is the same administration that paid Ric Flair $15,000 to come to Philadelphia to perform for 350 people who left after the first TV taping because, as the owner said, “Without a name like Ric Flair, and if you’re not an internet wrestling fan, who is going to know Nigel McGuinness, Bryan Danielson, or the Briscoes?”

So, perhaps, loyalty and common sense is something the ROH brass is lacking. Whatever the case may be, I am angry about the situation that has been put in front of a man who can light up a ballroom like no other with his mike skills, and I am angry about the situation involving the “ace” of this company, and the fact that he has not been re-signed to a long term contract to keep his stock on the rise, and in the Philly based company where it belongs.

Some of that diatribe may be a bit cryptic, and if it is, I apologize.

The other talent I am speaking of outside of Sweeney, that last little poke, is about the situation involving Bryan Danielson’s contract.

Now, I gotta admit, would I like to see Dragon in WWE? Sure. Maybe he’d get lucky, and get the chance to shine like Matt Sydal or CM Punk have. Or maybe, he’ll flounder because of WWE idiocy like what the dopes in Stamford did to Colt Cabana. Either way, the ROH brass oughta watch their talent more closely, before their roster consists of 90% japanese talents, and 10% ROH academy students.

I could continue, but I have some other things to discuss.

Total Non Stop Annoyances. I got some pros here, and I have some cons too. Let’s discuss them for a minute.

PRO: I’m glad they took Bonaduce off the Lockdown card. Any card with a match the severity of lethal lockdown does not deserve to be degraded with a match involving that bonafide psycho Partridge. I don’t care how talented he is, or how much of a roid raged maniac he has become, celebrities fighting in a pro wrestling ring does not work. Never has, and it never will.

CON: I’m sorry, I have tried for months and months and months on end to get in to the ODB character, but I can’t do it. I don’t like it. I don’t appreciate the mannerisms she does, and frankly, she’s not that talented, in my opinion. I’d rather see someone like Roxxi get more of a shot to shine in TNA, a woman who has the talent, and the grit to take it to women like Kong, Saeed, or Rhaka, if need be.

Holy crap, I just talked TNA KNOCKOUTS. I think that’s a first for this column, ever! 🙂

The Mafia vs. Front Line thing has gotten so out of control, and so fragmented, you might as well kill both groups, because neither one of them truly do exist. You got mafia guys trying to buddy up to the owner, you got a front line leader acting like he’s an island of one, which is just insane, especially when he looks like a bad version of the stay puft marshmallow man in a T-Birds suit.

You got the legends champion, who should be the focal point of the front line being involved with God knows whom, and in the most recent episode, being totally dissed by the major psycho that is Samoa Joe. He should be embroiled in a major feud with Booker, but he’s being dissed by his own stable mate. Sounds like a good philospohy, doesn’t it Russo?

I guess I have more cons than pros. I’m also upset at the fact that Rhino has seemingly disappeared from the main focus of the war storyline, as well as 3D. Rhino’s talking to military men, while it’s a good story, its not even remotely close to where he was a few months ago. While 3D has been chasing Beer Money for what seems to be forever.

Get my point here, TNA’s bookings are reprehensible. I could continue trying to come up with examples, but the best way to prove my point is simple. How quickly does it appear that Kurt Angle goes in to the background of the Mafia so that Sting can focus on Mick Foley, and it appears all is well and good with the members of the Mafia?

New Japan tag titles defended in Handicap matches, in title for title matches, Front line members in name only, there’s so much grey area with TNA’s landscape, it’s almost impossible to try and evaluate its creative process, because it can truly be implied in three words.

What creative process?

WWE, and the draft.

Obviously, I’m gonna come back sooner rather than later with thoughts on the drafts this week. I think the only thing that is rock solid certain to go down is Triple H is going to go to Raw. This way, he can feud with Legacy to his heart’s content with Batista & Shane on his side. With that being said, there’s a distinct possibility that either A) Cena will go to Smackdown, or B), Smackdown may not have a world title for a while, until the PPV, and the probable win for Edge.

It is a bit of a toss up who wins at Backlash, but I think the draft may put that result in a clearer perspective. If for some miracle Triple H doesn’t move, and the world titles remain on all three shows, then its a toss up. If Trips does go to Raw, which I think is a lock solid fact, then the world title situation becomes much more cloudy.

I’d be stunned if the Colons are split up, especially so soon after unifying the belts. I wonder what the plan is with the tag team division, as the rumors are flying about the Miz and Morrison splitting. I’m not counting the Hardys in this deal because of the recent feud, but the facts are pretty clear here. WWE is really going out of their way to kill tag team wrestling on all three brands.

And believe me, that’s no shot against Carlito & Primo, its just the facts.

The unification match gets pulled.The rematch is the next day on Raw.The rumors have the best tag team in WWE splitting up tonight.The team of the 90’s just spent months beating on each other relentlessly.

Sounds like a hell of a recipe for some terriific tag team combat. I think we may be seeing Legacy back as the tag champs sooner rather than later, because frankly, I don’t think WWE believes they can get a lot of mileage out of the Colons, while the third generation stars of Legacy can provide a ton of mileage for WWE to pursue.

Bottom line here from a WWE perspective, my own personal viewing is going to suffer. WWE has decided to beef up Raw with the draft, due to MyNetworkTV’s crappy ratings, and other issues, and because of that, I am going to suffer by losing a lot of good talent on Smackdown, the only wrestling show I am able to catch live on a weekly basis.

That, makes me angry. And that’s what this column turned out to be. An angry rant by a guy who enjoys and respects the talents of this business, but cannot stand the morons that stand behind the athletes known as professional wrestlers.

When I do my draft review column, I’m gonna have a story for you involving my quest to pick up TNA’s latest DVD release, the 4 disc piece on the King of the Mountain, Jeff Jarrett. I have a pretty good feeling it’s going to be a tough find.

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you either tomorrow night after the big draft, or later in the week after the supplemental. Perhaps both, who knows what motivation will come my way! 🙂

I feel like I should apologize for this column being awfully confrontational. But I’m not, and I won’t.